On May 23, more than 540 BestPrep supporters – teachers, students, volunteers, and donors – came together to celebrate the accomplishments of our educators and volunteers at the Annual Luncheon. Xcel Energy Chairman, President, and CEO Ben Fowke provided the keynote address on how to engage the next generation of leaders.

This year’s Bunzel Volunteer of the Year award went to Jonathan Faloon of General Mills. Each year, one individual our of the more than 4,500 volunteers who work with BestPrep annually is selected to receive the Bunzel Volunteer of the Year Award for going above and beyond in their engagement with BestPrep and providing educational opportunities for Minnesota students.

Jonathan first volunteered with BestPrep in eMentors, serving as a mentor and eventually overseeing the eMentors program at General Mills, recruiting volunteers and coordinating the on-site student-mentor meeting. Though his leadership, eMentors participation at General Mills has gone from one to fifteen classrooms, which now serves more than 400 students annually.

Beyond mentoring, Jonathan has also presented to students in the classroom, sharing his knowledge with them about a career in marketing. He shared, “I believe there is incredible value in enabling experiences for students to develop perspective on life, so it’s gratifying and humbling to be able to do that”.

Volunteering with the Technology Integration Workshop he recruits General Mills employees to provide job shadows for participating teachers, allowing them to see what skills their students will need in the workplace.

In addition, Jonathan has provided his leadership to our Strategic Planning Committee and has BestPrep with a pilot project, recruiting an additional 220 General Mills volunteers.

The amount of time and effort Jonathan has put toward providing educational opportunities for students and supporting BestPrep’s mission has been outstanding. Congratulations Jonathan! Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate each of our award-winning educators and volunteers at the Annual Luncheon. We invite you to visit our Facebook page to see photos from the event.